Wednesday, October 31, 2012

So are you ready to dig into your mind and recognize that certain image from that specific film?

I have an extra set of the Limited Edition Vinyl
releases of Halloween II and Halloween III fromthe magnificent DeathWaltz Recording Company. Both LP’s come with exclusive new artwork from Brandon Shaefer and Jay Shaw, along with linear notes by the legendary composer Alan Howarth.

Instead of hording them for myself, what better than to share them
with fellow friends of horror… for a moment’s brief challenge that is.

So we are going to play a little game, and I call it “Oh
what a Bloody Poser!”

All you have to do is email me the correct film – full
title, and Director – with the correct numbered image. Get them all right, and
the tiebreaking qualifier and you will make you one of the lucky contestants that
I’ll draw a winner from!

The qualifying question is: What movie is watched on TV in
several of the Halloween films?

Re-watch them, ask your friends, Google them, guess, or what ever you want, just make sure that I have your answers to the images and the qualifying question answer by Friday the 9th of
November!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Wrestler monsters from beyond the grave! In the world of
cinema anything is possible. Since placing the Luchadors in cinematic narratives
to get around the Mexican governments banning of televised Lucha Libre matches
in the mid 50’s, the masked wrestlers have taken on an endless surge of enemies
and foes. The Mummies of Guanajuato see’s Blue Demon, Mil Máscaras, Santo and a
haunting army of mummies under the command of the undead wrestler called Satan.
This my friends, is the good stuff!

Instead of the customary opening wrestling match, The Mummies
of Guanajuato goes right in to exposition. A bunch of tourists take a tour of Guanajuato’s
cemetery, were they see corpses in various state of mummification due to
chemicals and minerals in the ground. Guanajuato is infamous for it’s mummies,
and is one of the most popular tourist locations in Mexico. Amongst some
“fresher ones”, only a hundred years old, stands Wrestler mummy Satan [Manuel
Leal], and some semi composed henchmen. The guide, dwarf Penguin [Jorge
Pingunio] starts telling the curious crypt dwellers the tale of how Satan and
his followers swore to one day to come back and take their revenge after Santo beat
him in a celebratory match one hundred years ago… By coincidence the date is
todays date, and hey presto, the mummies start to climb down off their exhibit
stands.

Curiel has taken his time to establish the plot before bringing
in the big guns, as Mil Máscara and Blue Demon step into the ring for the
obligatory wrestling match. Unlike say Miguel M. Delgado’s,Alfredo Salazar
scripted flicks, there’s no time wasted on showing our heroes win one, loose
one, then defeat their foes in the final round as to show some kind of
vulnerability within the protagonists. This one goes right for the kill as Blue
Demon and Mil Máscaras take their opponents out in two fast matches.

The vulnerability comes in a haunting scene after the bout
where Satan, with ease sucker punches Blue Demon, leaving him stone cold in the
hallway of the arena. Nobody likes seeing heir favourite hero be slapped
around, especially when smacked around by a fiend possessing the power of
Lucifer. There’s also a pretty sweet subplot concerning Julio, an orphan kid
who Blue Demon has adopted. Mil Mascaras – who as per usual, changes masks for
each new scene he’s part of, has his loved one Lina [Elsa Cárdenas]… you only
need to have ever seen one Lucha libre movie previously to know that these are the week spots that will be used against the two masked keepers of justice.

The mummy thugs, lead on by Satan, terrorize the people of Guanajuato,
as the police laugh off the inhabitants terrified pleads to help them.
The cops stand around their office talking about the case, and chit chat about the mysterious deaths taking place all over the village. They are not having any of the stories of mummies, but they are
pretty convinced that the murderer is connected to the wrestling arena as all
victims have broken necks.

There’s a favoured moment when Penguin meets his fate, but
first he has the time to call up Blue Demon and plead with him “Blue, it’s
Penguin, the mummy is here, it’s going to kill me. Help Me!” Hilarious! It
shows that the Mummies have an agenda, kill people, try to pin the blame on Blue
Demon and Mil Máscaras, hence forcing them to call up their buddy Santo…
remember the sworn vengeance from the initial set-up? Well just wait until you see their sinister
plan unfold when they lay their hands on Blue Demon’s mask and wrestling pants!

Naturally Santo does turn up, but not due to the crimes
committed or the sinister plot to lure him there, but when he unannounced pays a surprise visit to his old pals as he drives by Guanajuato
in his car. In reality, writers Rafael Garcia Travesi and Rogelio Agrasánchez,
intended the movie to be a Blue Demon/Mil Máscaras flick only, but in the last
possible moment, Agrasánchez- who also
produced the film - wrote Santo into the script, as he feared audiences
wouldn’t come for Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras alone. Climax fight approaching,
panic reigns as the mummies walk the streets and the fuzz act like cretins and
shoot at the terrified villagers. The final cemetery and make shift
flamethrower battle is stuff of legends. Despite it being Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras
‘s film, nobody ever saves the day better than the silver angel, the undisputed
king of Luchadore movies, Santo, and nobody says it better than Lina when she
tells the two guys that they could have saved everybody a whole lot of trouble
if they’d only had called Santo right away.

Gustavo César Carrión’s score is unusually funky compared to
the stuff he’d be composing and perform to the Luchadore films just a few years
later. This was cinematographer Enrique Wallace, who also shot Rene Cardona’sLas Luchadoras contra el medico asesino (Doctor of Doom) 1963, final film and one can only guess to whether he thrived or
despaired with the many tall shadow street location shots that make this movie
look so damned great.

I love this movie so much that it’s stupid. This is one of
my top five Blue Demon movies and it was also the first time that three of the Lucha
Libre scenes biggest stars where banded together in one movie. And for this
same reason, The Mummies of Guanajuato became a pretty big box office success
in Mexico. The starting point of a mesh trend that would culminate with the Destroy
All Monsters of Lucha Libre flicks: El triunfo de los campeones justicieros
(The Champions of Justice) 1974, which features a whopping total of six luchadoras.

There was animosity between the wrestlers, and a growing
disappointment for Blue Demon as he was losing his place as the leading
star he desired to be – at the start of his career he stood on his own merits,
before being teamed up with Santo, whom he never really was a close friend
with. But Blue Demon delivers, and has something of the lead part in this one,
even if Santo does arrive as a miracle cure in the last act. The major part of
his 25 movie career, saw Blue Demon frequently standing in the shadow of his silver
masked friend, which obviously was a deep concern for him. Ironically it’s
those nine tag team films that are amongst the most famous ones. Never the
less, when Santo was off shooting his own movies, Blue Demon stepped up and became
the team leader in three of the Champions of Justice films before the two
re-united in the string of successful Miguel M. Delgado films of the mid-late
seventies. Blue Demon ended his career with Gilberto Martínez SolaresMisterio en las Bermudas (Mystery in the Bermuda Triangle) 1979, which saw him
reunite with Mil Máscaras and one final time play second fiddle to Santo.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Screw the Evil Dead remake, (which probably will be awesome);
this is the one you need to pay money to see in a theatre. Why You ask, well simply
because we need to make sure that more independent horror films get made,
distributed and screened in this country. (As in Sweden, where I’m located).
Fellow fans of genre cinema who reside overseas, (or neighbouring countries)
may want to keep an eager eye open as this movie may very well be the start of
Sweden’s own franchise much like the success of Norway’s Fritt Vilt (Cold Prey)
movies.

A lone man, Gunnar, [Johannes Brost] walks through a dark,
rainy Swedish forest. One can sense the cold dampness that encloses him. He’s
almost in a panic as he calls out his daughter Lisa’s name. He continues to
walk and is close to breaking down, when he spots someone crouched over what
might be Lisa! They could be making out, if not for the blood! The person turns
around, looks at him with pale, dead eyes, as gore pours over its teeth and out
of its mouth. Gunnar raises his rifle and shoots the being in the head, but
seconds later, and despite a gaping hole in the back of it’s head, it sits back
up and snarls…

This is the initial attack which opens Wither, a
Swedish horror film in the vein of Rec, Demons, Evil Dead and every damned generic
cabin in the woods horror setup that you have seen so far. It was bound to
happen sooner or later – Hugo Lilja won acclaim for his Dramatic Institute
graduation short Återfödelsen (The Unliving), writer, director of the
magnificent Psalm 21, Fredrik Hiller, has been trying to get his post
apocalyptic zombie flick Zon261 off the ground for the last few years, (fingers
crossed it will happen soon), and there’s even been a slapstick comedic, reality
show meets Zombies, aired on Swedish TV in the past year; Den Sista Dokusåpan (The
Last Reality Show). So the fact that Sweden finally has their first demon/zombie
flick and that it’s going to play theatrically, is a welcome one.

That’s why getting the monster in the initial attack does a
lot to set the tone: dark, violent, gory and perhaps most importantly the antagonist. Horror lives off its monsters,
and presenting a strong, almost unbeatable demonic zombie at the very start of
the movie is a rare thing in Swedish genre. More than often, budget restricts
filmmakers to keep effects at a minimum, and keep them until the last possible
moment. So this is an awesome initial attack that will set a great tone from
square one, giving the audience precisely what they are there for, shocks,
gore, and horror!

Following an illustrated credit sequence telling the
genesis of the “entity”, we are introduced to the lead characters, Albin
[Patrik Almkvist] and Ida [Lisa Henni], as they sit at his parents dinner table
talk about an abandoned house in the woods that the two kids are planning on
taking a trip to with their mates. The eight friends – hot chicks, cool dudes -
are rounded up en route to their destination, and it all plays by the book as
we learn who’s who, who fancies who and where they stand in the group of
friends. Keeping the Swedish tone to it, they obviously talk about the amount
of booze they are going to consume during the weekend, if it would have been
American, they’d have started rolling spiffs, and passing them around. They
reach the house, settle in, have a quick snog and start downing the drinks. The
table is set, time to shift gears… Moments later one of the chicks pees blood, starts
bleeding from her mouth, goes apeshit and savagely tears the lip of one of the
other girls. We’ve been around the block before, and we know that the spreading
of the disease has only just begun, and the shit is about to hit the fan.

Where the movie up till now has played along the lines of
convention, Scandinavian folklore comes in handy when putting a special spin on
things. It’s a well used device that Scandinavian filmmakers are turning to
more and more, Trollhunter, Marianne, Thale to name a few. Well Wither perhaps doesn’t
tap into actual folklore, but it uses folklore to create an own mythology of
their monster.Evil forces that live
under the ground, when you disturb them they take your soul and bad stuff
happen. Oh, did I tell you about the trap door that leads down into the soil-floored
cellar and the thing hiding in the shadows?

Without trying to be smart-asses, directors Sonny Laguna, Tommy
Wiklund and co-writer David Liljeblad’s passion for the genre, and knowledge, shines
through on several occasions, and it also brings an ardent enthusiasm with it
that is rare these days. A lot of films run on autopilot and by the book.
Wither may be somewhat generic, but it still blows the competition on the home
arena way off the map. It’s a testament to the fervour of independent underdogs
who make exactly the movie they want without any meddling from external
parts.

As said the setup and main narrative of Wither may not be
altogether unique – then again what is these days, and I doubt that’s what the
guys behind it where after originality either – but when the possession starts,
and the second act picks up the pace, it really pounds it in from there on out.
The last forty minutes are generic horror at its best, ferocious, intense, and could
easily compete with a lot of stuff that comes in from overseas. Wither get’s in
there, does its job and winds up tension as the fantastic special effects kick
some serious ass. The SFX crew need to stand up and take a bow, as Swedish
horror fans hail their work! Goes to show that Yngvie Malmsteen was right when
he said “How can less be more? More is more!” At the end of the day it doesn’t’
matter what flaws you may spot, because it’s a fast ride, a delightfully creepy
one, and certainly the most violent and gory horror flick ever made in Sweden. I
welcome it with at least one open arm, as the other one has to shield my eyes
from the bloodshed on screen.

My favourite pet peeve with this movie is that it uses cell
phones in the middle of the woods, and against all odds – they fucking work!
They also get used in a brilliant way when they have to locate possessed
friends, and I love these guys for that decision. It’s great to see Johannes Brost making a return to the genre
scene as he was in the legendary Besökarna – one of the Swedish horrors that
really does rely on the Less is more theory, just like the smash hit Låt den rätte komma in (Let The
Right OneIn) a few years back. Brost holds a classic helper role in the film,
but even helpers have some bad days too.

But compared to earlier attempts at making entertaining
horror in Sweden, Wither is an impressive feat. It boasts what definitely are
among the best special effects ever put on screen in Sweden. Prepare to be
nauseated; Wither is one graphic and gory little bastard indeed. If you came
for a blood drenched graphically violent horror film, then you are in the right
place.

Wither will hit Swedish cinemas early 2013, and should
probably reach DVD a few months after that.

Monday, October 15, 2012

All right! I change my initial verdict. The one I had before watching the movie was wrong. The Human
Centipede II falls right into the same mould as I found Eli Roth’sHostel versus
Hostel 2 to fall into. The initial movies didn’t do much for me, I found them
lacking, insulting and not worth the extensive hype that they came with… They
where pretty poor genre pieces in my eyes, and complete disappointments…But then Roth seemed to have taken everything
I didn’t like with the initial movie and dumped it when he made the second,
which came off a much better film. This is exactly the same way I feel about The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence). Everything I didn’t like with the initial
instalment is gone, and instead Tom Six came out with a movie that definitely
is a much more provocative film, a much more character invested film, and
undoubtedly a much more disturbing film. The Human Centipede II is a much better
film than it's predecessor!

Martin Lomax [Laurence R. Harvey] is a sad sod indeed. He’s
a mentally challenged, short grown man who spends his nights as a night
watchman in a parking lot. He’s completely obsessed with Tom Six The Human Centipede
and has decided that he’s gong to out centipede Six, with a human centipede of
his own consisting of a dozen people.

Ok, so how do you create a monster? Well, you can go
stereotype as Six did in his first part, but that would leave you with a pretty
shallow beast – The Evil Ex Nazi doctor. But when it comes to Martin, there’s
no holds barred. Martin is as mentioned mentally challenged, asthmatic, obese,
and suffering from an obvious gland problem as he’s always sweating profusely.
He’s the victim of child abuse, and still victimized by his Mother [Vivien Bridson] and her friend Doctor Sebring [Bill Hutchens]. His mother is manically depressed as she holds Martin responsible for
her beloved husbands incarceration in prison. She keeps Martin in an evil and abusive grip as she constantly threatens to take his and her lives, and tries
to make this happen on several occasions… There’s no doubt about it,
Martin is a scarred man, and his only two pleasures in life are his pet
centipede and that damned movie he’s totally obsessed with.With Martin, Tom Six has created a
fascinating genre character. When Martin get’s overexcited - whilst watching
the movie for the umpteenth time - I feel pity for him as he solis his pants in
excitement, and when he shoots the lurid Doctor in the genitals, I
cheer him on. That’s the power of creating a fiend with dimension.

After his Mother destroys his totem-like scrapbook of The
Human Centipede, it’s crowbar to the head all around. Mom, the abusive neighbour [,
and the creepy Doctor, are all taken care of, and with this detachment from his
“ordinary world” it’s time to set the plan in motion – A twelve piece human centipede.

The Meta aspect of The Human Centipede II works really well. Martin being obsessed,
no I’d rather say, possessed with Six film. Repeatedly watching it. Using it as an
assembly manual, and also his budding nervosity with meeting Ahslynn Yennie – who
he via her agent tricks into believing she’s going to an audition for a
Tarantino flick, only to put her as the head of his creation. I really like
what the soundtrack does for the film. It’s an industrial groaning throughout
the movie – much like David Lynch’sEraserhead – and without a rhythm to the
noise, it becomes part of the world Martin lives in. It’s quite possible it’s
the sound Martin hears in his head… something that may be closer to the truth
than you imagined.

The stuff we didn’t see in part one is all shown here. As
soon as Martin cuts the clothes off his first female victim and leaves her writhing naked on the cold wet floor of the abandoned warehouse, it’s apparent Six isn’t going to hide anything from us
this time around. Teeth are hammered out, knives slice through flesh, tongues
are ripped out with pliers, genitalia is mutilated for pleasure – and this time
there’s no, sterile home hospital with anesthesia, anywhere to be seen.

Where the first movie really didn’t generate much engagement
– The Human Centipede II works in a baleful kind of way that reminds me of
Laugier’s diabolical Martyrs, where I find myself wanting the cult to succeed
in killing Anna [Morjana Alajoui] so that I can find out what actually happens
when she reaches the state of martyrdom. The same kind of manipulative
narrative grabs me here, and I really become engaged in Martin’s macabre and
perverse project. I want to see him succeed… even if Martins motivation to
create the medical monstrosity is merely to satisfy his faecal fetish.

As Martin reaches his goal he looses all of the emotional
recognition that has been built up for the character, and Six can push the
movie right into a baleful nightmare. It reaches a climactic orgasm of
depravity and atrocity, which Six delivers in the most shocking ways. All the
pity we’ve felt for and Martin makes the last act a devastating one, and the
impact is immense something I found the first instalment never even being close
to. The old rules of tell then show, can be applied if you look at the two
films together. Where he first told, he really shows it all in the sequel.

Laurence R. Harvey gives one hell of a show, and it really
is a stand out performance. If I hadn’t seen the Making of material and seen
him conversing with Six and other cast members, I would have taken him for a
real mentally challenged person. That’s how convincing his performance is. I
also like when movies have the balls to dig right in there and just let story
develop on it’s own. The movie has no opening titles, no initial attack, no wasting
time. When Coppola opted against opening credits on Apocalypse Now, he was
looking for a more documentary tone to his film. I’d say the same goes for The Human
Centipede II which with it’s black and white cinematography (only faeces is
shown in colour), hand held camera and quick start into the mind of Martin
works in the same way.

You could call the “fictional movie” to be the initial
attack if you want one, and you could also call it the inciting incident – it’s
what makes Martin take up his quest.The
point of no return is when he frees himself of the chains that keep him from
putting his plan in motion. There’s character development, the movie relies
heavily on a degradation plot, and the last act will scar you – and make your
ass itch.

The last scene is a somewhat ambiguous one that leaves the
audience with confusion as to what they just witnessed. It works in a cunning
and subtle way, and leaves questions with the audience that they have to answer
themselves. Answers that will reflect how you have invested in the narrative
and how you value the acts you just witnessed. It could be interpreted as a
quickfix to wrap up the movie, and I’m sure someone’s yapped about that in
their reviews. But I really like movies that challenge their audience – i.e. making
me want bad things to happen – and with the closing images, I find that Tom Six
justifies Martin and brings everything back down to earth. Knowing that Martin’s
character will return in the proposed The Human Centipede III, I find myself
looking forward to where Six will take Martin, and the evolution of the
Centipede.

I stand corrected! Despite not finding much shocking
about the original movie, this sequel shines a completely new light on Tom Six
as far as I’m concerned. This movie is a well-conducted exercise that proves he
does know how to creep the fuck out of an audience, and The Human Centipede II is
unquestionably an unsanitary melting pot of insanity and provocative
genre.